World Languages and Cultures Department

Valpo offers three distinct study abroad opportunities in Germany:

You can study for a full year at the university in Tübingen, where you take an orientation course and then launch right into real courses in German at the university.

You can spend a semester at our study center in Reutlingen. Check out the Reutlingen Study Abroad blog!  When you have a free day be sure to take some of these ten great “Short Trips from Reutlingen.”

If you are an organ student, you can study for a semester in Rottenburg at the Hochschule für Kirchenmusik.

Visit the Office of Global Education to learn more about these programs.

Take the opportunity of a lifetime and study abroad to explore new countries:

• Costa Rica
• Puebla, Mexico
• Viña del Mar, Chile
• VIEP – Valparaiso International Engineering Program
• Granada, Spain
• Zaragoza, Spain

Visit the Office of Global Education to learn more about these programs.

• NEW SCHOLARSHIP: Josef Eberle Scholarships can be awarded annually to three incoming German minors. The award is $2,500 per year and is renewable each year, doubling in the fourth and final year (for a total of $12,500 over four years), as long as the student makes regular progress in the German minor and maintains a B- average in German and overall. This scholarship is added to existing financial aid and can be combined with the other Valpo scholarships for German students. Students who apply by February 22, 2025 will be notified of their status by March 1, 2025. However, the application will remain open until three scholarships have been awarded.
• Valpo’s Henry and June Giebel Study Abroad Scholarships are available to all German minors who study abroad in Germany for a semester or longer, as long as they have lived in the German House and maintain a B- average or higher. These scholarships are added to existing aid. They normally cover travel costs and additional expenses; they also cover housing costs on year-long programs. They can provide support as well for students before they go abroad and after they return.
• The John and Dorothea Helms Endowed Scholarship is awarded every year to a student minoring in German ($1,000, one time only, normally in the first or second year). Students are nominated for these scholarships.
• German House Residency Scholarships are available to German minors who live in the German House while enrolled in a German course. They are added to existing aid.
• Valpo German students may apply for other scholarships through entities such as the state of Baden-Württemberg and Delta Phi Alpha (the National German Honor Society). Valpo German faculty members advise students about applying for these scholarships when they become eligible.

Every year, Sigma Delta Pi, the National Collegiate Hispanic Honor Society, offers Summer Undergraduate Scholarships to study in one of the following countries Spain, Mexico, Ecuador, Bolivia, or Peru.

Valpo winners of the Sigma Delta Pi Summer Undergraduate Scholarship:

• 2010 – Alison Eyer (Mexico)
• 2009 – Amy Liakopoulos (Spain)
• 2007 – Katie Fremont Miller (Mexico)
• 2007 – Eric Matul (Mexico)
• 2007 – Judy Velasco (Spain)
• 2006 – Katherine Peters (Bolivia)
• 2004 – Kathleen Madden (Mexico)
• 2003 – Catherine Devito (Mexico)
• 2003 – Christina Heisser (Mexico)
• 2002 – Matthew Landmeier (Spain)

Sigma Delta Pi also awards the Premio Gabriela Mistral, a national award for outstanding undergraduate students of Spanish.

Valpo recipients of the Premio Gabriela Mistral:

• 2010 – 2011 Amy Liakopoulos
• 2009 – 2010 Alison Russell
• 2005 – 2006 Katherine Peters
• 2002 – 2003 Rose Ellen Gilbert

Learn how to become a member of Sigma Delta Pi, the National Collegiate Hispanic Honor Society and the largest world language honor society in the world.

Each year in May, the World Language faculty hold an end-of -the-year Honors Reception during which they give special recognition to their graduating majors and present awards to those students who have done superior work in their field.

The senior French major who has demonstrated outstanding achievement and promise in French studies is presented with the Roger and Hazel Guillaumant Award. The French section also awards book prizes to students who have demonstrated superior work in their language studies.

The senior German major who has demonstrated excellence in German studies is awarded the Walther M. Miller Memorial Prize; the outstanding junior student in German studies is awarded the Thora Moulton Prize.

Exceptional students of Spanish are also recognized with book prizes.

Valpo maintains active chapters of several world language honor societies. Outstanding students may apply for membership into the following societies

French – Pi Delta Phi
Valpo’s local chapter of the French National Honor Society, Pi Delta Phi, accepts new members every year.  The criteria for admittance into this honor society are as follows:  1) Completion of two French courses beyond FLF 203, including: one course from the French Texts and Society sequence (FLF 351, 352, 353) OR participation in one of the VU Paris programs; 2) Overall GPA of B; 3) French GPA of B+.  Once you have met these criteria, you will be invited to join in the middle of the spring semester.  If you join, you will be asked to pay one-time membership dues for lifetime membership.  In April every year, the French section organizes an induction ceremony and reception for current and new members. 

German – Delta Phi Alpha

The Iota Rho chapter of Delta Phi Alpha was installed at Valpo in 1984 and has initiated students annually since then.  If you are eligible to become a member you will pay a one-time initiation fee to the national office of Delta Phi Alpha and attend an October initiation ceremony and reception.  Members are then eligible to apply for a national Delta Phi Alpha Scholarship to help defray study-abroad expenses.  Several Valpo students have won a national Delta Phi Alpha Scholarship since 1984.

Spanish – Sigma Delta Pi

Government:

• Janice
  Government and press relations associate at NAFSA (International Studies Organization), Washington, D.C.
• Emily
  Deputy press secretary for Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN), Washington, D.C.
• Matt
  International economist, Office of Trade Policy Analysis, U.S. Department of Commerce, Washington, D.C.

Business:

• Dawn
  Market researcher, MRC, Sulzbach, Germany
• Kim
  Logistics order administrator, Siemens AG, Hoffmann Estates, Illinois
• Kara
  Sales representative, Venta Luftwäscher, Elk Grove Village, Illinois
• Elizabeth
  In-house translator, Transline Deutschland, Reutlingen, Germany

Science and Technology:

• Elizabeth
  Manufacturing engineer, Stryker Instruments, Kalamazoo, Michigan
• Andrew
  Mechanical associate, Sargent and Lundy, Chicago, Illinois
• Caitlin
  Technical team leader, Gentex, Zeeland, Michigan

Education:

• Erica
  Associate dean, International Programs, Lake Forest Graduate School of Management, Lake Forest, Illinois
• John
  Associate Professor of German, Purdue University, West-Lafayette, Indiana
• Julie
  Koordinatorin, Deutsch-Amerikanischer Studiengang/MSc, ESB, Hochschule Reutlingen, Reutlingen, Germany
• Courtney
  German teacher, Hammond High School, Hammond, Indiana
• John
  School of Language Studies, Foreign Service Institute, State Department, Washington, D.C.

Travel:

• Erika
  European rail reservation agent, DER-Deutsches Reisebüro, Chicago, Illinois
• Hella
  Travel coordinator, AHI Travel, Rosemont, Illinois

Service:

• Lori
  Volunteer, United States Peace Corps, Namibia
• John
  Community organizer, National Community Church, Washington, D.C.
• Pamela
  Minister, Edina Community Lutheran Church, Edina, Minnesota